Live Blog: Man City v Man Utd and 7 Other Gameweek 12 Matches

Because of the vagaries of the Premier League schedule, we’re faced with something exceedingly rare: a massive, massive Wednesday night in the Premiership, featuring eight (!) games.

We’ll of course be focusing in on the biggest match of the day, the Manchester Derby, where United fans will, non-ironically, accuse City of attempting to buy the league, while City fans will of course wonder where in Manchester the United fans come from. And then there’s the football–a (literally) sick Manchester United side–here’s hoping they don’t have the same chef as Tottenham–comes into the Derby as the underdog to a City team led by Carlos Tevez. Tevez’s work rate, as well as his exceptional talent, has made him a bit of a folk hero in the blue half of Manchester. The fact that he’s a former United player, and has been a thorn in the side of United since his West Ham days certainly adds to his appeal. Also, Mario Balotelli will miss this match for City, as he picked up two yellow cards in last weekend’s match.

Key to the game: Tevez v. the United back four: While United’s back four, including Rio Ferdinand, Nemanja Vidic, and Patrice Evra have been hit with injuries/illness, it’s important that they control Tevez if they plan on leaving the City of Manchester Stadium with all three points.

Prediction: Draw, 2-2. (ESPN2 (HD) , 2:45 ET)

Other big matchups:

Chelsea v. Fulham. FSC, 2:45 ET: The West London Derby features American Clint Dempsey for Fulham, who are coming off a 1-1 draw with Aston Villa. The league leaders Chelsea feature Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba, though it appears that Lampard may miss this match because of a nagging injury. Michael Essien is also expected to be in the lineup, having recovered from an injury as well. Prediction: Chelsea, 3-1.

Wolves v. Arsenal. ESPN3.com, 2:45 ET: The Gunners enter Molineux suffering two defeats in the last week. Could Arsenal be out of contention for the league by Christmas? A loss here puts into question their ability to compete in the harsh realities of the Premier League. For the sake of their fragile young keeper, Lukas Fabianski, this game is crucial. Arsenal won’t keep a clean sheet, but they will find a way to get it done against Mick McCarthy’s Wolves. Prediction: Arsenal 2, Wolves 1.

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7 Comments

Hmmm … Arsenal won 2-0 away at Wolves, seems they have the “ability to compete in the harsh realities of the Premiere League.” I can’t even believe this ridiculousness was written prior to the match, as if Arsenal were in relegation zone. It is hard being among the top teams in the league; Arsenal is well schooled in those harsh realities. And Fabianski had a clean sheet in goal and a handful of spectacular saves. … 3rd place!!!

Rebecca–I think that there’s a difference between competing for relegation and competing to win the league. They can play very pretty football, but still have problems with confidence and getting stuck in. Theyre a frail team. Can you honestly deny that?

Well, your point would have made a lot more sense had you written, “puts in the question whether they have the ability to compete in the harsh realities of the TOP of the Premiere League.”
I wrote what I wrote post-game, as I had not seen it until after the game, and Arsenal won.

I can honestly say that I have no idea how Arsenal will play game in and game out, and that they can even win when they don’t play the prettiest of football, i.e. Wednesday.

Horrible Liverpool performance after a bright start. A win and we would have been in 5th place.
The players, and the manager, have to get out of the mindset of protecting leads by sitting back when you are playing a bottom 3 side. That’s a mid-table mindset.

Arsenal pulled a nice 2-0 victory today but they did NOT play well. Like the last few matches, they just couldn’t seem to connect as a team. 42% possession in the first half? Ick. 48% Overall…
Fabianski however, had a very good day.(Even in bright pink!)
🙂